One of the main plot points in the Cold War classic Dr. Strangelove was a "Doomsday Machine".
Built by the Soviets to be the ultimate deterrent, the Doomsday Machine would automatically trigger a nuclear holocaust if even a single bomb hit the Soviet Union. What could possibly go wrong?
(Note. If you haven't seen Dr. Strangelove, get out there and watch it now!)
A nuclear Doomsday Machine sounds pretty crazy right? Nobody in their right mind would actually build one. Except that the Soviets actually did build one, or something pretty darn close.
It was called "The Dead Hand" and it was truly the stuff of nightmares. Read on, if you dare!
Despite all of our Cold War hype, the Soviets were at least as afraid of us as we were of them. Their centralized, top-down system of government left them vulnerable to "decapitation" by sneak attack. They feared that if we took out their leadership with a surprise attack, there would be no one in authority to order the retaliatory strike.
Two events really made the Soviets start to fear increasingly vulnerable. One was the highly accurate Trident D5 submarine launched missile. While previous SLBMs had been relatively inaccurate, the D5 was as accurate as any land based missile. Our quiet subs could sneak in close to the Soviet coast and put those missile a very short time-of-flight from Moscow.
The highly accurate Trident D5 could be launched from Soviet coastal waters.
Likewise the highly accurate Pershing II missiles, based in Western Europe, would give the Soviet leadership very little warning if used in a surprise attack. They estimated that they might have as little as 3 minutes to make a decision before their leadership was taken out.
Basing the Pershing II missile in Europe was highly controversial. The Soviets rightfully feared it.
Their answer to this problem was a system called "The Dead Hand". Through a system of seismic sensors linked to computers, The Dead Hand was to be able to
automatically launch the Soviet ICBM force upon detection of a nuclear attack. The Soviets determined that it would be quite feasible to build such a system with the technology of the time (early 1980s). The only difference from Dr. Strangelove is that The Dead Hand would not be switched except in times of crisis.
Arguably they were ahead of the game on replacing humans with robots.
Now we don't know for certain if this fully automatic system was actually put into service. Like many things, it depends on which source you want to go with. Some former Soviet officials have claimed that it was operational in the early 1980s. If I were the Mythbusters I'd say "possible", right after I built a test version using model rockets and old cell phones.
Most accounts say that they mistrusted a fully automatic system and instead built a semi-automatic one called Perimetr (Perimeter). Perimeter was essentially The Dead Hand except with a human "firewall" between the computer and the missiles.
While Dead Hand is probably a Cold War urban legend we can be fairly certain that Perimeter was actually built.
Perimeter used a number of deeply buried and extremely hardened command bunkers. These bunkers had the ability to launch the entire Soviet ICBM force plus send launch commands to their bombers and submarines.
A series of events had take place before Perimeter's computers switched to "active":
1. The system was enabled by Kremlin leadership.
2. A series of seismic, light, radiation and overpressure sensors had determined that a nuclear attack had occurred.
3. Normal communications with higher headquarters were lost.
At this point the computer would enable launch control authority for the bunkers. Now a single Soviet officer, of undetermined rank, would have the ability to launch the entire Soviet retaliatory strike.
How this was accomplished was ingenious in and of itself.
When he threw the switch, a number of "command rockets" would be launched from super-hardened silos. Instead of nuclear warheads, these missiles carried radio transmitters. They would arc across Soviet territory while transmitting the launch commands to the ICBM force. The nuclear missiles would launch automatically upon receiving the command. Game over.
The Soviet R-36 (SS-18) ICBM. It carried either 10 warheads in the 500 kiloton range or a single massive 20 megaton warhead.
The NATO code-name for the R-36 was "Satan". I'd say we got it right for once.
This isn't as far fetched as it sounds. We had the Emergency Rocket Communications System (ERCS) until 1992. It would have used Minuteman Missiles with radio transmitters to relay Emergency Action Messages during wartime.
The Perimeter system was successfully tested in the early 1980s. The clever Soviets, however, knew that we would closely watch any missiles tests they conducted. When they launched the command rocket, it transmitted its launch commands to the waiting test ICBMs as planned.
Here's where they got clever: they programmed the test ICBMs to launch after a time delay of anywhere from 40 minutes to a full 24 hours. We never connected the dots. To us it just looked like a series of unrelated missile tests. We first learned of Perimeter when a New York Times reporter figured it out in 1993.
Imagine yourself as a mid-level Soviet officer, let's say a Major or Lt. Colonel. In a time of rising tensions you're ordered down into the "sphere" as the bunkers were called.
Some time later the earth shakes, the lights flicker, and all communications with higher headquarters is lost. Meanwhile your launch control panel has come to life. You now have the authority to launch the entire Soviet ICBM force (or at least what's left of it) at the United States. A few days ago you were just a Lt. Colonel in the Strategic Rocket Forces, now suddenly the fate of the world rests on your shoulders. What do you do comrade?
The secrecy obsessed Soviets declined to tell us about Perimeter. You see, they viewed the system as a deterrent to themselves. Just like us, they had hard-liners in their government to worry about. Knowing that Perimeter would ensure the ability to retaliate would hopefully remove the pressure to "use 'em or lose 'em" in a crisis.
The Russians haven't become any less secretive since the fall of the Soviet Union. As far as we can tell, Perimeter is still operational and ready to be switched on if needed.
Sleep well!